


Neon Katt vs. Tenebrous Remnant: Faunus

by Nerdorama



Category: RWBY, World of Darkness (Games)
Genre: Anti-Faunus Racism (RWBY), Background Relationships, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Nerds being gross, Terrible operational security
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:02:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21911890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerdorama/pseuds/Nerdorama
Summary: Blake and a new friend in Atlas investigate the origins of the worst RPG supplement in all of Remnant.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 11
Kudos: 57





	Neon Katt vs. Tenebrous Remnant: Faunus

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Game Night Prep: Blake Belladonna Vs Tenebrous Remnant: Faunus](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20225029) by [Kiiratam](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiiratam/pseuds/Kiiratam). 



> Fic of a fic for someone I follow; following up on a plot thread of theirs. This is specifically fic fic for Kiiratam’s [Game Nights at Beacon Academy series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1482323), especially Blake Belladonna vs. Tenebrous Remnant: Faunus, which you should check out or this will probably be _really_ confusing.  
> This is also my first published fic…ever, so please excuse any issues with the grammar, style, or insane obscurity of the premise.

“Let me just say I’m _so excited_ to be working with you guys!” Neon said over her shoulder, before turning around and simply skating backwards along the polished floors of Atlas Academy. Blake gave her the bemused start of a smile. Her energy was _almost_ as infectious as Penny’s, although closer to chaotic than wholesome, and she could see why Yang still wasn’t…exactly a fan, even this long after their Vytal Festival bout.

“I know that look. That’s the I’m-not-taking-Neon-seriously look,” she continued, giving Blake back a look that was either knowing or a really good impression of an emoticon. “I _am_ serious though, I’ve been a _huge_ fan of Team RWBY ever since your girlfriend steamrolled me in that fight.”

That caught Blake off-guard, even though she should know better. “She’s not—I mean, we weren't, but—”

Neon’s grin widened to the point that her eyes closed. “Ooooh, are you dating Less Terrifying Schnee, then? Because she’s pretty hardcore, too.”

Blake sighed and dropped her attempts at an unreadable expression for a sheepish smile. “No, Weiss is a friend. And Yang and I are…working on something. Why are y—door.”

With a prompt warning, Neon spun a full 360 degrees to wave her access badge at a sliding door, avoiding an unfortunate collision as the door wooshed open. “Thanks! That’s not normally closed this time of day. Anyway, I’m just curious!”

“Do you get the curiosity joke every day, too? Because I’m not about to walk into that one,” Blake replied, ears flattening.

Neon’s grin grew to the point that she started beaming. “I prefer the second line. The one about satisfaction.”

“That’s fair,” Blake said. She briefly wondered if she should push further, but within about five minutes of talking to Neon for the first time, she’d learned basically every embarrassing secret of Team FNKI, so she followed an instinct that there’s no such thing as too personal a question for this girl. Besides, the way her skates were faintly trailing rainbows put her in mind of someone else.

“Actually…I’m surprised. Between you and Marrow—”

“You’re wondering how faunus have done so well in Atlas, noted flying heckhole of racism, classism, and every other -ism?” Neon asked brightly, proving Blake right and making her grimace at her own forwardness. “Oh, trust me, we get it all the time, and it’s not as easy as I make it look. Not that anything—”

“Door.”

“—is,” Neon concluded as she spun. “You just…have to be tough. Learn to fight back with words. It’s _great_ training for psy-ops, hence my specialty. The General doesn’t see species, so he does his best, we just have to deal with students. And teachers. And everyone in the city. But they can freeze, if they want to make a big deal about it. If you can’t keep it up, they’ll…well, there’s a reason I never miss a beat.”

Neon’s grin had fallen off and gotten thoughtful, but it brightened up again. “It gets a _lot_ better when you get into the military, though. _No one_ gives you lip when you’re a Special Operative. Human, faunus, robot apparently…”

Blake listened, but her mind was on the other side of the world, so she missed the next few moments of conversation until a new voice interrupted – a male voice that grated like claws on steel. “Well hello, kitty!”

Neon stopped in her easy roll and rolled her eyes. “And then there’s _this_ asshole,” she muttered, forcing a grimace off her face before turning to face the new speaker. “Mars! Hi.”

The voice had come from a spacious room full of monitors, most of them hovering in a semi-circle around a large desk in the center, forming a heads-up system full of what looked to Blake like security camera data from feeds in both Atlas and Mantle. Always nice to be reminded that they were constantly under observation by the Atlas military while they were here. A part of her wanted to find Yang and encourage her to start smashing cameras again, but she quickly quashed that train of thought in favor of regarding the person seated in the middle of the room – a short, blond man in a grubby Specialist uniform presently leering at Neon…and after a second, at Blake. “Who’s your friend, Katt?”

Neon sighed, her usual energy deflated even as she rolled into the room. “Blake, Mars Everest. Mars, Blake.”

Blake wasn’t fond of the type of look the guy was giving her either. Yang had a name for it, and when Yang named something ‘lust eyebeams’ and then sounded like she was planning to spit every time she said it, Blake felt supported in feeling uncomfortable in receiving it.

“Ah, I _do_ know your pretty kitty friend,” the guy said, smirk somehow getting worse as he swung around in his swivel chair to pretend to look at some security footage. “Blake Belladonna, daughter of the original leader of the White Fang Ghira Belladonna, and _apparently_ personally responsible for the White Fang’s main branch in Anima just up and eating itself last month, with the remainder going, surprise, back to the Belladonna family's allegiance.”

He heaved a melodramatic sigh, but then winked. Blake felt her hair and ears both prick up as if threatened. “The threat reassessments were _so_ boring. But as always, I like your style.”

Blake could only manage an “uh” for a second, but she was for once thankful when Neon cut back in.

“Mars here has been working the night desk for _years_. He thinks that makes him some kind of counterterrorism expert.”

“I know _everything_ there is to know about threats to Atlas’s national security,” Mars insisted. “Even that your friend _was_ one, until she turned t… _white hat_.”

Blake’s dumbfounded expression turned into a glare, if only because she’d heard the word ‘tame’ on the tip of that guy’s tongue. But, she was trying to be a good example, and Weiss wasn’t around to propel this guy into anything before Blake could stop her. Not that she condoned that, but she _did_ appreciate the gesture.

“Glad to know we’re on the same side now,” Blake said, trying not to clench her teeth.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Mars said. “Frankly I couldn’t care less how many SDC trains you’ve robbed. In fact, I’ve always been a total supporter of equal rights for faunus. Isn’t that right, Neon?”

“Oh yeah, you made sure to tell me you were giving ten lien a month to the faunus widows and orphans fund, right before the second, third, and fourth times you asked me on a date,” Neon observed, giving Blake a look that Blake was tempted to interpret as ‘end my suffering’.

“Now that you mention it—”

“No.”

“Look, it’s nice to meet you,” Blake said, “but Neon and I were on our way to the training rooms.”

“Now, now, hold onto your bells, pussycat,” Mars replied, standing up and dusting the detritus of his last at-desk snack off his jacket while Blake’s ears flattened, and Neon looked flabbergasted at her own necklace. “I think you and I have a lot to talk about. Maybe over d—”

“No.”

“Yow, okay, I see how it is,” Mars said, affecting a pout as he leaned on the desk. “It’s because I’m human, right? I’ll have you know I’m not just some slacktivist. I consulted with a major publication on the social status of faunus in Remnant. Technically, I’m a published author in faunus studies.”

“Okay, I don’t have the time to even begin to unpack your thought process here,” Blake said, patience evaporating. This conversation had shot past Weiss’s threshold for casual violence, was well into Yang’s, and would have reached Blake’s own by now if not for the events of the past few months. At least, assuming this guy had Aura. He had to if he was a Special Operative, right? Just a quick jab to the solar plexus…if he approached her. That would be proportionate, surely.

He didn’t approach Blake by the time that thought process wound itself out, but unfortunately, he did keep talking. “I’m serious! It wasn’t a scholarly article or anything, just a bit of fluff work for a certain famous game company, but if you’ve ever heard of Tenebrous Remnant, then I’m sure you’ve seen some of my influence…”

Blake’s ears shot up at the same time as Neon’s tail, and they both pointed fingers at him simultaneously.

“Are you responsible for Tenebrous Remnant: Faunus?” the demanded in unison, then immediately looked at each other in confusion.

“You play TR?” Blake asked Neon, blinking.

“Uh, yeah? I’ve been running a monthly Witch LARP for like three years,” Neon replied. “You play?”

“F&F, a couple times. I only read the hellbook, as far as TR goes. And then burned it.”

“I _knew_ you had excellent taste.”

“Uh, ladies?” Mars replied. “You both actually play tabletop? Oh my gods, I didn’t know hot girls did that. I—"

Blake and Neon both fixed him with a glare, but Neon spoke up first.

“ _You!_ You were the one who sold all that confidential intelligence to _civilians?!_ ” she shouted. “I was chasing down that security leak for _months!_ It was my freshman thesis! I failed it because I couldn’t figure out how _anyone_ would get that detailed of information off our networks! Ironwood said he’d put whoever leaked all our intel on Adam Taurus’s cell into _traction!_ ”

“Whoa, whoa, hey, it’s not like I gave away any _ongoing_ investigations,” Mars said, raising his hands in an attempt to make a placating gesture. “I didn’t even tell Pale Beowulf it was real data! I just sent them some character pitches that _happened_ to coincide with real White Fang members. For verisimilitude!”

Blade spoke up next. “Just how much of that book _did_ you write?”

“I didn’t _write_ it, I did _concept work_. Freelance. But uh…I did _inspire_ most of the organizations chapter,” Mars said, still only slightly comprehending the amount of pain Blake was considering inflicting on him. “Although I did have a book pitch I wanted to send PB about the Battle of B—”

Neon didn’t let him finish, skating around behind his desk and putting a hand on her baton. Blake did the same with Gambol Shroud, pushing her jacket back to let Mars know the situation.

“Mars Everest, you’re under arrest for like a billion security violations,” Neon said, emphatically. Mars looked nonplussed.

“Oh please. This is old news. The General’s not even going to care anymore, what with everything else he’s dealing with. Man barely sleeps.”

Neon leaned in and narrowed her eyes. “You can come with me and explain things to Ironwood, or I’ll tell Specialist Schnee what you wrote about her mother.”

Mars froze, eyes widening as his mouth slowly went from nonchalant smirk to pained grimace. “She—you can’t prove anything. I changed all the names. It’s not like she read it.”

“I’ve still got a copy,” Neon taunted, smirk returning in all its predatory glory. “Do you think she’ll give even one iota of a shit about your plausible deniability once she sees that?”

Mars’s eyes darted around looking for escape, but this was a secure room. Blake was standing between him and the only exit, and it was clear to Blake that he knew _exactly_ what she was capable of if he tried to run from a lawful arrest.

“I…let’s…go…talk to the General,” he decided, slumping in defeat. Neon gave a girlish giggle and skated behind him, where she could hold her Dust baton to his back.

“It’s a date.”

As Neon frog-marched the hapless Mars out of the room, she gave Blake a wink. “It’s been great talking to you, hon, but duty calls. Tell Yang I said hi! Oh, we should go dancing some time! You, her, and my team!”

Blake, brain still trying to catch up on the exact events that unfolded here, gave a nod and a wave as the other faunus skated out of the room behind Mars. “You, uh, you too. And I’ll pass that along.”

“And if you’re still in town next week we should absolutely LARP!” Neon called back, before disappearing around a corner.

Blake paused, looked around the room, and wondered what just happened.

“I’ll just…hold down the fort,” she said, glancing at the monitors that the two Specialists had left unattended. Atlas _really_ needed better security oversight.

**Author's Note:**

> If you don't understand what just happened, seriously, go read [the work that inspired this](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20225029), it'll make a lot more sense.
> 
> Much love and appreciation to Kiiratam for constant free entertainment and making sure we all remember that our girls are big nerds.


End file.
